The Summer Hierarchy

Chloe's **baseball** cap sat pulled low, shielding eyes that had spent too long scrolling through her **iphone**. Four hundred twenty-three Instagram stories from the party she wasn't at. Classic Friday night.

"Chloe! Get in the **pool** already!" Maya yelled, doing a cannonball that splashed half the deck.

The pool—that's where the **pyramid** happened last summer. The social pyramid, obviously. Jason McGuire at the top, then his friends, then the people who knew his friends, then everyone else trying not to drown. Chloe had been somewhere near the bottom, right above the kids who brought their own snacks.

"I'm good," Chloe called back, adjusting her hat. She hated pool parties. Hated the bathing suit anxiety. Hated how everyone floated in their little groups, like oil separating in water.

Her phone buzzed. A DM from Jason McGuire.

*Hey, you coming tonight?*

Chloe stared at the screen. Was this real? Was this a prank? Was she being Punk'd? She typed and deleted three responses.

"Who's that?" Maya appeared beside her, dripping wet. "You're smiling."

"No I'm not."

"You are. Spill."

Sighing, Chloe showed her the phone.

Maya's jaw dropped. "Jason McGuire? THE Jason McGuire? From the—"

"From the top of the pyramid. I know."

"So what are you gonna say?"

Chloe looked around the pool. At the people she'd known since kindergarten, the ones who'd always been there. The ones who made cannonballs and didn't care who was watching.

She typed back: *Actually having a chill night with my cousin. Maybe next time*

Hit send.

"Are you insane?" Maya shrieked. "That's JASON!"

"Yeah." Chloe pulled off her **baseball** cap and shook out her hair. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"I'd rather be at the bottom of the right pyramid than the top of the wrong one." She grinned. "Now get in the **pool** with me before I change my mind."

Maya laughed and dragged her in. The **iphone** sat forgotten on the deck, its screen finally going dark.